The present invention relates to a packaging device and, more particularly, to a packaging device capable of grasping a plurality of articles such as serving cups from a conveyor, displacing the articles together in order to remove the excess space existing between them, and placing the compacted plurality of articles into a container.
In some packaging operations, articles are transported to a packager along a conveyor apparatus having multiple rows of widely spaced articles due to requirements of their manufacture. Direct packaging of such articles can be inefficient due to the wasted space between the articles. This inefficiency ultimately results in the use of large containers to hold a relatively small number of articles. An automated packaging device capable of receiving a widely spaced group of articles and tightly compacting the group for placement into a relatively compact container is therefore useful for efficient packaging.